Thousands of giant snails causing problems for Florida homeowners

[longknife]

Fox News - Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News Videos Posted on Monday, April 15, 2013 645 AM by Red Badger

South Florida residents are being warned to be on the lookout for one of the world's most destructive invasive species: the giant African land snail, which can grow as big as a rat.

From Thousands of giant snails causing problems for Florida homeowners | Fox News

Sure wouldn't want one of these running around in my back yard!

 

[EricTheMan]

I wonder how they taste.

 

[longknife]

I wonder how they taste.

Ugh!!!

 

[EricTheMan]

Not a fan of escargot?

 

[longknife]

Not a fan of escargot?

In 1958, I was assigned to an army post about 20 miles north of Bordeaux, France and, on several occasions, was talked into eating them. Not all that great and I've always wondered by anyone makes a big deal out of eating them. Especially at the price so many haute cuisine restaurants charge!

 

[EricTheMan]

In 1958, I was assigned to an army post about 20 miles north of Bordeaux, France and, on several occasions, was talked into eating them. Not all that great and I've always wondered by anyone makes a big deal out of eating them. Especially at the price so many haute cuisine restaurants charge!

I think it's the same with raw oysters. The gross-out factor of your dinner companions makes it worth it.

When my wife was a teenager she baby-sat for a couple next door and they had left a bowl of live snails covered with saran wrap on the kitchen counter. To this day we are not sure why. Later that evening she went into the kitchen to make the kids a snack and found that they had escaped and were climbing all over the walls.

 

[whitehall]

Look on the bright side. You could have hours of fun with a pellet gun.

 

[FuzzyCat]

I'm not sure a pellet could penetrate their shells.....

from the link above...

The snails can gnaw through stucco and plastic, and attack "over 500 known species of plants ... pretty much anything that's in their path and green," Denise Feiber, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, told Reuters.

In some Caribbean countries, such as Barbados, which are overrun with the creatures, the snails' shells blow out tires on the highway and turn into hurling projectiles from lawnmower blades, while their slime and excrement coat walls and pavement.

 

[longknife]

Coming to Your Neighborhood: Giant Animal Invaders

By Nadia Drake, 04.19.13

We've seen the gian snails. But, there's more! See them @ Coming to Your Neighborhood: Giant Animal Invaders | Wired Science | Wired.com

I sure wouldn't want to see one of these suckers running around my neighborhood!

 

[EricTheMan]

The rat I would not eat. Who knows how much poison that critter has ingested over its short life. But a road kill turkey? You bet!